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Sunday, January 8, 2012

Rewatching Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future

A
few weeks ago I picked up the Captain Power and the Soldiers of the
Future DVD box set. Mainly for a little nostalgia, but also to fill some
holes in my 80s cartoons and children show collection. I remember
Captain power being a very hyped so so live action and CG affair that
was essentially another 30 minute long toy commercial. I went in to
watching it with the idea that it was going to be a little hokie. It
was, BUT it worked, and the elements that were good were really good.

When
you begin watching this your eyes make their way to the top gun
haircuts and the overuse of rock quarries, but as you get into it you
see a very ambitious show with good writing and really some state of the
art special effects. A lot of the effects were used for the first time
in this show. CG characters shared the screen with live actions
characters. This was one of the first TV shows to do this! So in a way
it was cutting edge. There
was another cutting edge technology that made this show stand out. As I
said earlier this was meant to be a product to help promote a toy line
of the same name. The toys were about the same size of the GI Joes of
the time with similar articulation. Nothing real speacial in with he
figures, but some of the other items WERE special. These toys
interacted with the TV show. Within the program there are characters
and vehicles with large computer generated lights on them. these
colorful lights would bounce a signal back to the toy and the child
could be in the firefights along with the heroes, and the toy would keep
score. This was the big marketing gemic of the show. Children would
get the toy and then watch the show to play! Genius really.

The
show had some well known names attached to it as well. Garry Goddard
had worked with Mattel previously as the director of the Masters of the
universe movie. Actually there was a similar feel between the two
shows. Also J. Michael Straczynski wrote for the program. He was
already a well known name in children shows, and was establishing
himself as a great chi-fi author as well.As
I watched the show I took notice of the costumes. I remember as a
child being pulled in by the (literally) shiny costumes that the heroes
wore, and the bionic costumes of the bad guys. Seeing them again I have
a greater appreciation for these costumes. They are well done and
really are the heart of the show. If you can get past the Power Rangers
esque way the costumes appear for the heroes you’ll really enjoy them.The
show was gritty and was strangely character driven. Digging into the
pasts of many of the heroes. While doing this they introduced people
from their past, weaving an intricate story of the what happened to lead
up to this point. A very good portrait is painted as to what happened
in the “Metal Wars.” The characters we meet are all very real.I recommend you taking a look at this cult show regardless if you are an 80s media fan or a sci-fi fan it is worth the look.